Mark 13:34-37 34. For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch. 35. Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning: 36. Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping. 37. And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.

Verse 34 - For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch.

[A] For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey [1] Here we find Jesus talking about going away [2] He refers to himself as the Son of Man [a] In the New Testament the term Son of Man is used forty-three times as a distinctive title of our Saviour. [b] The title Son of Man denotes the humanity of Jesus [1-a] He had a body like ours [2-a] He had a soul like ours [3-a] Yet he was a perfect man sinless in all his actions and ways [c] It seem to me that the title Son of Man, and knowing that Jesus was exactly like we Are, in every way, shows us that we need not sin, [1-a] If Jesus could go through this life and not sin, we should be able with his help to do the same. [3] The Son of man was taking a far journey [a] He was preparing to leave this earth and return to heaven [b] He was going away and leaving others in charge

[B] He left his house [1] He left his family – his followers [2] He left those whom he was in charge of

[C] He gave authority to his servants Matthew 28:18-20 18. And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 19. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. [1] The last commandment Jesus gave to his disciples, and to us was Go into all the world and teach all nations the things he taught us to do. [2] Take notice of what he said in verse eighteen 18. And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. [a] God the Father gave God the son all power over heaven and earth. He was not lord of lords, and kings or kings [b] Jesus delegated his power to us in his absence, to do the work he had started while he was here. [c] In other words, as it says in or scripture from Mark, he gave authority to his servants [3] Not only did Jesus delegate authority to his servants, he sent the Holy Spirit to empower them, and show them the way [a] This is the wonderful thing about Jesus, he never asks you to do something he has not given you authority and the ability to accomplish [b] He never asks you to do nothing he was not willing to do himself or anything that he never did – this makes him a great leader

[D] He every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch. [1] Jesus called each of us to specific tasks, [2] We are all to spread the gospel – but the way and means of doing so differ because Christ gave us all different task to fulfill [3] The Porter is the Holy Spirit who Christ sent to watch over us and help us complete the task we are given [4] Conclusion [a] Christ has gone away – at least in human form [b] He left us each with orders of what he wants us to do, while he is gone [c] Along with the orders we have received, we are given the ability and the authority to do the job Christ left us with [d] Each person has their own specific job, and not all jobs are the same, yet all the jobs are to work together through the power of the Holy Spirit to fulfill the goal of spreading the gospel and teaching all nations the good news of Jesus [e] The Porter – the Holy Spirit – has been left her to watch us and help us in any what he can to fulfill our work every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch.

Verse 35 - Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning:

[A] Watch ye therefore [1] Jesus issues a warning [a] You must be diligent in what you are doing [b] You must remain faithful to him and your calling [c] You must wait and watch for the return of the Lord [2] This warning is valid today just as it was in the time of the Apostles [a] We need to diligently be about our Father’s business – putting aside the things of the world, and the things that draw us away from Christ [b] We must remain faithful, to our calling, and we should seek to learn what the calling is the Christ has given us. [c] Every minute of every day should be spent expecting Jesus to come in the nest moment

[B] Ye know not when the master of the house cometh [1] We do not know when Jesus will come in the clouds to rapture his church away [2] We don’t know when we might close our eyes in death and Jesus will be waiting to take us home. [3] No one knows the day nor the hour that Jesus will come not even the angels in heaven but Christ did give us signs to watch for and thing to show us that he will be coming soon, all of which are upon us right now, with just about everything he told us to expect already happening

[C] Jesus is going to return at a time when no-one is expecting him [1] He may come in the evening, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning: [2] He could come at any moment, at any time, at any season

Verse 36 - Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping.

[A] Lest coming suddenly [1] The bottom line is that he will come suddenly – [a] We find his coming described being like a thief in the night [b] He will come when most people are not ready, and not watching and not even caring [2] When he comes, only a few will be watching, [a] Comparative few in the world will be ready for him when he comes. [b] Many will be pretending to be something they aren’t – pretending to be a Christian, and claiming to have a relationship with Jesus, but those who are not faithful in their faith, and true believers will be left

[B] Lest He find you sleeping [1] Lest he find you Inattentive to your post [2] Lest he finds you neglecting the duty he left you with [3] Lest he find you unprepared for his coming again [a] Lets face it folks, this covers a lot of people both in and out of the church [b] The numbers of true believers are shrinking, and the numbers of those who are sleeping are growing [4] I believe as a whole, the Church of our time is sleeping. [a] It was sleeping when the bible was taken out of the school [b] It was sleeping when our leaders began discrediting the bible and tearing the truth of God’s word apart claiming it is not relevant for today [c] It was sleeping when homosexuals were allowed to become preachers [d] It was sleeping when the ways of the world were allowed to infiltrate into it’s Holy doors [e] It was sleeping when we allowed the government to take our Christian rights and values away and replace them with secularism [f] It was sleeping when we allowed our seminaries to start teaching secularism instead of the bible [g] It was sleeping when we allowed professing atheist to teach in our so called religious Universities and colleges [h] It was sleeping when Jesus Christ was not only kicked out of the Supreme Court, and the Classrooms of our nation, but when he was kicked out the door of many of our churches. [i] It was sleeping when we took discipline our of the Church [j] It was sleeping when we allowed discipline to be taken out of the home [k] It was sleeping when we allowed drug dealers to infiltrate our society [l] It was sleeping when we elected our president [m] It was sleeping when it ought to have been praying, and ought to have been standing up proclaiming the word of God to all nations. [5] The church is asleep, but many of the members are so dead to the world, so deep in slumber that they cannot be awakened. [a] They do not want to hear about the coming judgement [b] They do not want to hear they are sinning [c] They do not want their toes stepped on [d] They want to here only feel good sermons [e] Many are not waiting, watching or even caring if Jesus comes again. They are sleeping and dreaming of sweet things, believing as long as their name is on a church role, and they come to church once in a while, they are ready to go.

Verse 37 - And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.

[A] And what I say unto you I say unto you [1] Here Jesus reiterates to his disciples and followers what they must do

[B] Watch [1] This command was proper, not only for those who were expecting the calamities that were soon to come upon the Jews, but for all who are soon to die, and to go to the judgment. [2] It is proper for us as well [a] We do not know when we will die. [b] We do not know when we will be called to the judgment. [c] The Son of man may come at any moment, and we should, [d] We must be ready to meet him when he comes [3] If we are his friends- if we have been renewed and pardoned--if we have repented of our sins, and have believed on him, and are leading a holy life--we are ready. [4] If not, we are unprepared; and soon, probably while we are not expecting it, the cold hand of death will be laid on us, and we shall be hurried to the place where is weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth. [5] We must be ready, waiting and watching [a] When waiting – one is looking for the coming and ready for it to be [b] When watching – one has they heart and mind on Christ and will refrain form doing wrong [c] When ready – one knows in their heart that everything is being done that needs to be done, and all is well with their soul [6] It is important to be ready, in order to escape the sufferings of an ETERNAL HELL! [7] But, escaping hell is not the best reason for watching and waiting, the best reason is because you are wanting to go to be with Jesus, because want to please him, and because you love him.

Luke 12:35-40 35. Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; 36. And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately. 37. Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them. 38. And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. 39. And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through. 40. Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not. 41. Then Peter said unto him, Lord, speakest thou this parable unto us, or even to all? 42. And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season? 43. Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. 44. Of a truth I say unto you, that he will make him ruler over all that he hath. 45. But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken; 46. The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. 47. And that servant, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. 48. But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.